Today I went out to walk and it was an amazing time, and I found it all so beautiful, the whole way through. I went out in my usual black sweatshirt and pants with a beanie, my (maybe 10+ years, can't remember) old black Converse with ridiculously torn up soles and my black gloves. Now, these gloves aren't very thick, and it was almost freezing out, so I went back and got some warmer ones, then headed out.

Outside, the air was dense with dampness. The sky was a heavenly light grey as if I had died already and were being lifted into the realm of Perfect Ideas. Anything over fifty feet away was greyed and muddied by the mist, like a dream. The entire ground was wet, with puddles and debris all over the ground. The air had a slight wind to it, not enough to make it "cold" and harsh, but definitely not stagnant either.

I saw five people outside, and I found their presences beautiful for the atmosphere of the scene. First was an older woman with a blonde bob and pink jacket or coat who was coming out to fix her car or something before she would leave. I passed by her. The second was a middle aged man, somewhat overweight, with a longish, scraggly pompodour thing and a light brown-beige coat. He was walking along the street (we don't have sidewalks often) opposite of me, perhaps about to jog as I was doing at times. Third was on the other side of the neighborhood, about an hour afterwards. I came to the end of one of the streets, a beautiful sight in many respects, and I saw three cars parked outside a house, with several children, all boys aged anywhere from about fourteen to five, and in the back was a man in a red coat picking stuff from his car. The fourth was along the long street on that side, where there are two very whimsical 60s or 70s houses, one that is tall and large, with a nice iron entrance into its back, the other being smaller and secluded, but with a lavish and silly garden. This man, a tall black man, probably middle aged, lived in the former. I've seen him sometimes before, but he really captivated me then when he got out of his truck, dressed in a black mariner's cap and brown long coat, then walked over to the door. The last was a quaint scene. It was a boy on a bicycle, with a brown mop top, and a black and blue-lined hoodie, cycling after a little black and white dog, going one direction, then when I'd get farther along the street, I'd see them going the opposite direction.

Now, on the construction of the neighborhood, I personally feel so attached to many parts of it. As I had said before, we don't have sidewalks all over, only about half the neighborhood has them, and sometimes they sporadically stop. There are two different types of construction for both the sidestreets and the sidewalks, nice concrete, and pebbly. The latter is generally older, and more prevalent overall, I believe. I prefer the latter, for it's more hard on the feet and feels more adventurous, more atmospheric, and oftentimes cracked and covered in moss and easily filled with puddles. I ran twice, and the second time was over a long stretch of sidewalk, mostly cracked and uneven, with lots of puddles and debris, with one short intermission for a drain system, which I had to go around since I can't jump over the gap, but I could and do always jump over the huge long puddle leading up to it, then skipping up the driveway of the next house and continuing my running.

The lawns were beautiful, a state of nature that I feel most pleased in. The grass was mostly green, with many patches and lawns that were not, but overall it was green, with many little flowers, especially dandelions, having sprouted up. The trees were almost all bare, with a couple evergreens, one white one and a good few that seemed in perpetual fall, since they still had a few dead leaves on them. A few drainage systems led to pretty large dumps that you can see over the rails in some streets. These lead to the many creeks around the area, and I love looking into any huge messes of trees I can find.

The houses here are postmodern, probably built in the 70s and 80s mostly, with brick and wood construction being that which about every house is. It's reminiscent of the suburbs of midwest cities like Chicago or Cincinnati, though a few houses looked to have been plucked off of the shores of New Jersey or Connecticut with more wood in plain colors and little tower-constructions. The most common colors are beige, brown and red, with some whites, pinks, and a few blues, blacks and greens. Half-timbered construction, while not common, is at home here. It all is very homely to me, making the little American flags on many people's houses or lawns look very fitting. It's a lot like the suburbs in the film Halloween, just a bit poorer and more rough-looking (no sidewalks lol), but it's the same sort of feeling of "Americana" or "suburbia". Now, the common portrait of this place is not drenched in fog and damp wetness, but it's my suburbia, I prefer it over the sun and blue skies. It's a different side, but just as beautiful, of the same thing.

I personally encourage you all to walk out in the open air when you can, on days you feel most beautiful. Just listen to music and observe every little detail of the surroundings. Get lost in the aesthetics of your nature, and write about it.